TG, we'd be dealing with Vince at Village Cyclesport outside of Chicago.

We feel pretty confident about his knowledge. Coincidentally, while we were browsing/test riding last week at his shop, a family came in with two DaVinci's they had purchased a few years ago from his shop. Every year they drive the 120 miles to have him service the tandems prior to the summer season. Their tandems looked well used and well loved!

I think my worries revolve around getting the bike to fit us well, and with the expense! I want the tandem to be perfect! I think I have to trust, trust, trust, and believe that any concern we have will be addressed!

looking at the price on the tandem i can see why you hesitate, it is a big commitment even at the low end of the price scale. can't imagine a local shop would be much of a risk. they certainly want you back to by the big margin items on an on going basis.

My wife and I have about 500 miles on our new Joint Venture and are enjoying it immensely. I'm a bit curious as to why you describe the purchase as a "mountain tandem"? Are you intending to do a good deal of off-road riding or just going with an mountain bike handlebar/shifter configuration? I'm no expert, but based on extensive expert opinion expressed hereabouts the front disc might be overkill for road riding other than superior performance in the wet. No harm, of course, but the disk does weigh more than the v-brakes which work well.

I'll second the CF fork recommendation. I still get some road buzz, but I believe this is attributable to our relatively high team weight (360?) and the ultra gatorskin front tire at 115 psi. I'm switching to 4 season which have a more compliant sidewall and this may help on chip seal.

Rick T, we want to be able to sit up in a more upright position when we ride. The online DaVinci catalog describes the Joint AdVenture model as a "off road tandem/hybrid". Even if we purchased a road bike, we would end up swapping the handlebars for something other than drop bars, and my understanding is that with a road bike purchase, the cables might not be long enough to accommodate a different handlebar setup.

Our current bikes are hybird Treks, 7.5 and a 7500 models. We like these bikes and want to replicate the way we sit on them.

As for dual disc brakes, I am not completely convinced that we need two of them. My husband seems to think they might give us better stopping ability. We are getting to the age where we want to minimize risk, even if it means a little more weight. Are two disc brakes overkill?

2 discs overkill? Each tandem duo has their comfort level when riding.
At ages 76 and 74 we have cut down a bit on risks (no more 50+ mph descents), still ride around 100 miles a week and still run only 2 rim brakes and use drop bars. That fits our comfort level/riding style.
Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

We have a Cdale 07 with dual disc and it is great. In NH we are always up and then down hills whenever or wherever we ride. The stopping power of the disc allow me to focus on what is ahead knowing I can stop quickly if a surprise quickly arises.

We like to ride a bit fast and I try not to go over 40mph to often but when we do it is good to know I have plenty of stopping power.

And for the extra little weight... I figure if I am trying to reduce the weight of our ride, I'll drop it my self, 25 lbs so far.

Max out the bike with whatever will have you riding it the most often!!

Carmie,
Just a note - I looked at the adVenture on the daVinci website and I think there is a small discrepancy in the features summary. The FD is described as a Compact Triple and the shifters are grip shifters. I don't know that these are compatible with the 12-18-24-30 quad chainring listed under Driving Gears. The daVinci triple driving gears are 14-21-28, but if the grip shifters and FD can handle the quad chainring that would be a fabulous setup.